Men's Water Polo

Sagehens Split On Second Day Of Gary Troyer

Oct 06, 2013

Claremont, Calif. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team defeated Fresno Pacific 11-6 on Saturday afternoon at Haldeman Pool on the second day of the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament, before falling to seventh-ranked Long Beach State 19-6 in the final match of the event on Saturday evening.

With the split, the Sagehens move to 3-12 on the season, although seven of the losses have come to teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation, including No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 USC.

Against Fresno Pacific, Pomona-Pitzer used a 4-0 run to turn a 5-5 tie in the third quarter, into a 9-5 fourth quarter lead. Senior Jarrod Gaut started the run at the 2:09 mark of the third quarter, and Nic Lanker followed with a goal with 33 seconds left to make the score 7-5 after three stanzas.

Freshman Tommy Turner and junior Stephen Vint (pictured) extended the run in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 9-5, and a late goal from David Maes was not enough for the Sunbirds. Vint finished with a team-high three goals for the Sagehens, while Lanker and senior Ryan Higgins had two apiece. Freshman goalie Caleb Prater-Fahey went the distance in goal and had nine saves.

The nightcap saw seventh-ranked Long Beach State jump out to a 6-1 lead after the first quarter. Pomona-Pitzer held the margin at 9-4 going into halftime, but the 49ers scored the first six goals of the third quarter to pull away. Vint led the Sagehens in the nightcap as well with two goals, while four others had one apiece (Lanker, Phillip Clayman, James Baker, Timmy Hardman). Zachary Kappos led the 49ers with four goals.

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action next weekend at the SoCal Tournament, hosted by UC Irvine.